Pete had one shot

[dsc]

and Iowa's incompetence took it away. His campaign spent a year and a small fortune working that state. He needed a clear first or second place finish and he got that but thanks to Iowa's incompetence he doesn't get credit for it. Iowa should have to vote last for the next 44 years. I am disgusted.

[MFM008]

1. Me 2

Iowas incompetence has given maggot the opportunity
To mock the whole process.
They had fucking 4 years.

[Kablooie]

2. And they decided to change the system and rely on an untested app in the last 2 months.

The app was just released a few days ago.

[MFM008]

3. Yes

It seems the more high technology stuff they try
The worse it goes.
Paper ballots.
Period.

[gab13by13]

5. Bingo,

mail in ballots work too.

[LiberalArkie]

26. But the app was by a democratic company

[Lancero]

38. I doubt he'll be saying anything different from what we're already seeing said here.

Yet again, Democrats are writing the attacks for him.

[gab13by13]

4. Trump can complain all he wants

but even without a new app Iowa screwed up the Republican primary also. Seems I remember Iowa declaring Mitt Romney the winner then a day or days later I forget, it declared Santorum the winner.

I guess we need to use Ivanka Trump's voting machines? "sarcasm"

[dsc]

6. Or maybe we could use the paper sheets

Count them and send the results via email.

[oasis]

7. Mayor Pete delivered an impressive speech before moving on to N.H..

The class he displayed will serve him well.

[Mike 03]

8. I don't understand

Didn't he come out of this really well?

The worst-case scenario is we say he was one of three apparent winners in Iowa, with some caucuses/polls showing him as the victor and other polls showing Warren or Sanders? Iowa showed all three were viable. Now we move on. Also, yesterday many people spent all day saying "Iowa isn't important."

Why aren't we trying harder to control this narrative? Is it really so bad?

[Laura PourMeADrink]

16. Leadership!. We should

make some position responsible overall leadership/policywise when we lose the WH. Like the previous past president or last losing democratic opponent. I know this sounds extremely unorthodox, but we have the craziest most dangerous man in the WH. We have no ex-officio.

[krkaufman]

23. Media

"Why aren't we trying harder to control this narrative? Is it really so bad?"

The media needs something to report, and the "chaos" narrative is as good as anything ... and certainly better, from their perspective, than "results will be posted within 24 hours once verified."

[wyldwolf]

9. Mayor Pete is, in many ways, the most pragmatic candidate in the race

He took a look at the Iowa dumpster fire and said 'let the others wail and gnash their teeth over his, I'm moving on.'

[Corgigal]

10. I understand where you're coming from.

He needed a legitimate win. Above board, to show he was possible.

Nobody young now. A shame.

[krkaufman]

24. huh?

"Nobody young now."

[peggysue2]

11. I can empathize with your disgust

It really is an embarrassment for the entire country. First contest and it turns out an utter disaster. But from everything I've heard and read, Mayor Pete took it in stride.

As for Iowa? We may have seen the last Iowa caucus; it's no longer quaint and charming. Just chaotic.

[handmade34]

12. I was in Concord, NH yesterday

and the area was plastered with "Pete 2020" signs... saw 1 "Tulsi" and a few "Warren" no "Biden" and no "Bernie"

...for what it's worth

[DownriverDem]

13. Iowa should not be first

They do not reflect our diverse country.

[onetexan]

31. +1 K&R - spot on. IA is among the least states to be held as a harbinger for the presidential race

it is a highly conservative state and severely lacks diversity.

[gab13by13]

14. There's an article at Raw Story

that discusses Shadow. According to Raw Story, and according to the FEC, Joe Biden and mayor Pete have paid Shadow for services. They don't say what kind of services only that it was for their presidential campaigns.
Raw Story also reported that the Nevada Democratic party has paid Shadow for services to be used in its election.

Trump is hammering Democrats over this, where is Tom Perez?

[Demsrule86]

25. Tom Perez has nothing to do with this...shouldn't attack Democratic leaders nor

should your candidate...I take solace in the belief that Sanders will not be the nominee...and this is his last run...he won't be turning Democratic four years from now for another go...hopefully we have an incumbent.

[Demsrule86]

27. I looked Shadow up...it is a tech firm...non-profit. There is no conspiracy here and I doubt

you can post this here as it is only RW sites that there is something wrong with this firm other than perhaps incompetence or the lack of training...I don't think Iowa is tech savvy.

[grantcart]

15. If you want to be President you have to be able to turn lemons into champagne

Not an obstacle but an opportunity to show his class and his brains, on to NH.

[James48]

17. It doesn't matter

what you, or I, or any of us want.

First ballot in Des Moines had Bernie at 61%.





That doesn't matter.

Apparently the only thing that matters is the oligarchs running this charade.

I'm taking up French lessons. Macron said he'd take Americans.

They have democracy in France.
And protests in the street.
And decent food.
And wine. Oh, they have good wine.

[samnsara]

19. that was Des Moines there are a LOT of precincts with diff results..with different winners..

..there was no terrorist attack or no plot to disenfranchise anyone. There are just too many damned candidates for a caucus to run smoothly...

that was a cnn early estimate..

[Bettie]

28. That is the real story

there won't be a clear winner, because there are a lot of candidates.

Yes, there was a computer issue, but just because Pete didn't win whatever percentage he felt he was entitled to means only that some people chose different candidates for the caucus.

In ours, what was the most striking thing was that everyone (except the Biden group, which seemed odd, but OK) said that they would happily vote for any of our candidates. We had four viable groups, Biden, Warren, Pete, and Sanders. From other people who I've been to training with and who I know, the results were similar in most places. Our three precincts had slightly differing numbers, but it was those four.

I'd also like to add that the caucus is run by volunteers who aren't the big cats in the party.

We're normal people who take training and work our asses off to make it all work.

I dislike that so many seem to think we're all both hicks and dishonest. Those of us who run these things are strong democrats who feel a sense of duty to the party and are willing to give up an enormous amount of time and energy to make it happen and all we get from fellow Democrats is "you guys suck".

[dsc]

21. stop gaslighting

it was one caucus as you well know.

[samnsara]

18. im saying everyone won in Iowa..

[lark]

20. Yes, Iowa Dems totally screwed the pooch, no denial, but Mayor Pete did so good on tv this morning.

He knows for sure he's at least one of the leaders, so yes, that's an easier place to be. However, he was responding like a mature thinking adult this morning when he could have been crying "poor me" or yelling, but he did neither. I like him more for how he handled the shitshow than I did before and already thought he was pretty outstanding.

[Demsrule86]

22. I agree...shows how stupid caucuses are.

[LongtimeAZDem]

29. It's not over for Pete; nobody will take Iowa seriously after this

[Skidmore]

30. Why are you assuming he lost?

In our precinct, he was viable immediately and most of Amy's supporters (an almost viable group) slid down the bleachers to join his supporters.

[dsc]

35. He likely did win

but it won't matter. All the coverage will be on what a mess this was, Impeachment, and the State of the Union.

[IronLionZion]

32. We can move DC's primary up to first from last

and our candidates might get a lot more liberal and diverse

DC has the most LGBT % of any state/district so it could help Mayor Pete in other ways too.

[Sparko55]

33. A Goat Rodeo

What a clusterfuck in Iowa. Repeat of 2016 "fix" leaves horrible taste in voter perception of competence of Democratic party. Friends in Des Moines who participated last evening reported confusion at best, and chaos at worst, neither a really desirable outcone.

Why is it so hard to cast a ballot in America? Just asking.

Like a candidate for a job interview, you've got the first 15 seconds to a minute to make the first impression and largely the decision is made by then.

Dems had the whole stage last night between the book ends of the denouement of the kangaroo Senate impeachment proceedings and the clown show tonight of the SOTU to show the public they are up to the task and they exhibited gross incompetence.

[democrattotheend]

34. This is why I don't understand the Bernie-related conspiracies

Some people (I think mostly Republicans, some posing as Bernie supporters on Twitter) are saying the DNC did this on purpose to screw Bernie. But putting aside the obvious issues with that theory, such as the fact that the DNC doesn't directly control the caucuses and that it would be a lot easier to rig a secret ballot primary than a caucus where people are posting results from their precinct on Twitter all night, I feel like this debacle has the potential to screw over candidates like Buttigieg way more than Bernie. Bernie already has the name recognition and is likely to win New Hampshire, so he didn't need Iowa as a breakout state the way Pete did.

No matter what, I feel for all of the candidates and their staff/volunteers who worked so hard in Iowa for so long only to have it turn into a debacle. This isn't good for any of them, and I wish everyone here would recognize that the only person who really benefits from what happened last night is Trump.

[NoMoreRepugs]

36. Iowa and NH have less than 2% of the population

of the country and are not representative of our diversity - so why do we all put such importance on them?? In the final vote count they really don’t mean much at all.

[DanTex]

37. Agreed. Not a Pete supporter per se, but he got screwed here.

I didn't even stay up late enough to see his speech. I heard it was great. But it was late at night, and totally overshadowed by the disaster, and clouded by the uncertainty of the results.

All signs point to him getting a strong second place at least, way above expectations. But the delegates coming out of Iowa aren't what matters. It's a proving ground. It's where Obama first proved himself and gave that amazing victory speech. If this had happened in 2008, we may not have had a president Obama.

I don't think it's Pete's only shot. But, yeah, it's a big missed opportunity.